


Donnie Dancing

by fardreamer333



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-29
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-09 13:04:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3250712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fardreamer333/pseuds/fardreamer333
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>April has a hobby that Donnie stumbles upon. Hoping that it will bring him closer to their human friend (and his crush), Donnie enlists the aid of one of his brothers to help him in impressing April. Just a fun little scenario I thought up XD No male slash, no tcest, just brotherly love, Donnie/April, Rated T for naughty language and some mildly suggestive dialogue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So if you haven't figured it out, the title is a really lame play on Dirty Dancing. I hope that you guys enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. It's not too special, but it will get more exciting in the next chapter or two, I promise :) It won't be too long, just a little scenario I came up with in my head that made me squeal. I hope you enjoy it, and I promise to get the next chapter out ASAP. Feel free to comment and please let me know what you think so far!
> 
> I do not own TMNT.

It started when they had come back early from their patrol one night. The brothers had put their weapons back on the wall and had started to strip themselves of their gear.  
Donatello remembered that he had wanted to replace the grip on his bo staff before the next time they headed out. So he went to one of the back rooms in the lair to grab the necessary supplies to make the alteration.

Humming to himself as he went, Donatello started to pick up the sound of musical notes that he was not creating. And it got louder as he headed for the back room.

Curious, Donatello walked silently and made is way to the door.

The room was more of a large storage closet where they kept supplies of various kinds. Everything from coffee filters to bandages to spare weapons. There was high shelving lining the walls and some boxes strewn across the floor, but other than that there was a bunch of open space in the center.

As kids, they always like to use the room as a hiding spot when they played hide-and-seek. That was, until Mikey tried to climb one of the shelves and found out that it wasn’t attached to the wall…

Needless to say, Master Splinter had ordered them not to play in there again.

But now there was music filtering out through the door that stood slightly ajar, letting out a soft yellow light.  
Donatello’s interest peaked when he peered through the opening and found a very interesting sight before him.

There was a small silver radio sitting on the floor next to the wall outlet, chirping out a type of fast pace Latin music. And there in the center of the room, stood April O’Neil.

April had been living with them for a few weeks ever since the ‘incident’. She’d been very pleasant company, and got along swimmingly with the brothers (most of the time). Her lessons with splinter had been going well, she was a quick learner and was already twice as lethal as she had been when they had first met her.

But sometimes she would sneak off somewhere without telling anyone where she’d gone. Leo had asked Splinter about it, a little worried that she was going up to the surface without them. He said that it was far too dangerous for her to do so.

But Master Splinter had only waved his son’s concern away, telling him that she wasn’t going far, and that she just needed some time alone.

It seemed now that she hadn’t gone far at all.

Donatello felt bad for walking in on April, and was about to leave, but then something happened that mesmerized the turtle and rooted him to the spot.

She started to dance.

Not that modern body flinging that was becoming popular in internet videos today, but a very poised, very exact ballroom dance.

Donatello watched open mouthed as April strutted across the room in time with the music, lifting her feet with the grace of a swan and the sass of a rooster.

Then a heavier beat came into the music and April started to fling her hips, rebounding on every down beat. She turned and twisted, flung her head back and strutted again, all the while keeping her arms up to clasp the hand and shoulder of an invisible partner.

Donatello could not describe what she was doing by saying anything but that it was art. Pure, unchoreographed, free flowing art. 

And she was good.

Really good.

Donatello had seen countless videos and movies where the people or character’s had danced (though the title “Dirty Dancing” still made him blush a little), but he’d never actually seen a human dance with his own eyes, besides an occasional late night street performer.

The energy that April was producing was fantastically exhilarating. Even though the room wasn’t well lit, she shined out like a burst of electrical sparks from and internal power source.  
Donatello found himself starting to sway in time to the music.

He watched her for a long while, following her movements across the floor and back, never dropping her gaze or letting her arms slacken. Some of the moves that she did were so… spicy? (he felt ridiculous using that terminology, but there really was no other word for it) that he felt his cheeks get hot just from being privy to the fact that April could move like that.

She was amazing to watch.

Before he knew it though, the song was over and April was making her way towards the door where the radio lay.

Donatello stumbled back from the door, suddenly horrified that he would be caught. In the process of trying to escape unnoticed, he managed to knock over a display stand of unused swords and knives.

The sound they made when they fell was horrendous. Metal weapon scattered all over the floor. Donatello cringed and made to pick them up, when he heard both the fading music click off abruptly and the sound of multiple pairs of running feet heading towards him from back in the lair.

Donatello panicked and looked around for a place to hide. The only thing he found was a tapestry hanging from a nearby wall.

He didn’t have much of a choice.

Running through the piles of scattered weapons, Donatello made it over to the wall unscathed and flung the tapestry over him just as the storage room door opened.

“What happened?” he heard Leo’s voice ask from the other side of the room.

Donatello hoped to Newton that no one looked too closely at his hiding place. If they did, they would surely see the large lump against the flatness of the drapery and his feet sticking out beneath it.

“I don’t know,” came April’s voice. “I wasn’t in here when I heard it fell.”

Donatello peeked out just a little to see his three brothers and April setting the stand to rights and starting to pick up the scattered weapons.

“Huh,” Leo said when the stand was upright again. He teetered it back and forth, looking for any signs of wobbliness. “Guess we’ll have to ask Donnie to check it out. Don’t want that to happen when anyone’s standing next to it.”

The team leader looked over at April, who picked up the radio and a sweat towel from the ground by the door.

“What were you doing in there anyway?” Leo asked.

April shrugged nonchalantly.

“Oh, you know. Super secret girl stuff.”

“Sounds kinky,” Raph chuckled, but something caught his eye and shifted his attention to where Donatello was hiding. The techy pulled his head back under the cover so as not to be spotted.

Too bad he couldn’t just hover in midair so his feet wouldn’t be seen.

He heard a thump and Raph’s exclamation as someone hit him upside the head. Probably Leo. Or April for that matter.

“Ow! Hey, I’m just saying-”

“Shut up, Raph,” Leo said as their footsteps started to fade. 

“Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Don’t hold back the super secret girly urges,” Mikey said.

There was another smack.

“Shut up, Mikey,” April said, but her voice was much more light hearted and teasing than Leo’s had been.

Donatello held his breath as he listened to their voices receded into the lair. Only when they were far, far away did he allow himself to sigh.

That had been close.

Donatello pulled back the silk tapestry and stepped out-

And promptly gave a very un-ninja like shriek.

There before him stood Raphael with his arms crossed in front of his chest and a weird frown on his face.

“What are you doing?” Donatello asked, a little flustered that his brother had managed to sneak up on him.

“I could as you the same thing,” Raph shot back.

Donatello rubbed the back of his neck, feeling very very caught.

“I was- ahem. I was… dusting?” he supplied lamely.

Raph raised and eyebrow.

“Dude. You were hiding behind the curtains like a five year old.”

Donatello ignored the urge to tell him that it was a wall hanging, not a curtain, because it wasn’t blocking anything and it was one solid piece of fabric-

“So you wanna tell me why you were hiding behind the curtain?” Raph asked, a smug yet inquisitive grin spreading over his face.

“I was not hiding,” Donatello argued and lied.

Raph wasn’t buying it.

He raised another eyebrow, thoroughly enjoying making his brother squirm.

Donatello stood up straighter with a set jaw, daring his brother to contradict him. Raph saw that he wasn’t going to get anything else out of him for now and decided to drop it for now.

“Uhuh. Well, when you’re done “dusting,” dinner is on its way,” Raph said, turning around and leaving the room. He clicked off the lights as he went out, leaving Donatello alone in the dark.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a few weeks after that embarrassing incident that Donnie found the poster.

They were out on night maneuvers, patrolling the lower east side. He and Mikey were paired up as usual, while Leo and Raph split off towards west.

It was a bland night for the most part. They only thwarted three muggings instead of the usual six. Mikey had gotten a little over zealous when they caught a guy mid robbery at a small mom-and-pop store uptown, which resulted in Donnie having to bandage the unconscious guy’s head before they took off. After that, the duo decided to head back to the Raulix building where they always met their brothers if it hadn’t been a real busy night.

On the way there, Mikey managed to drop one of his nunchucks in an alleyway that they had jumped. 

Donnie had rolled his eyes and headed down to get it as he was closer. Slick as a cat and quiet as a mouse, he lept down the fire escape and landed neatly on the ground below. He grabbed the weapon with a put upon sigh and was about to start back up, when a brightly colored piece of paper on the ground caught his eye.

It was torn and filthy, but he could still read the words:

City wide dance competition and party, Lerkman hall, October 31

An overly bright orange jack lantern smiled up from the poster with jagged teeth, while silhouetted monsters danced in the background.

Initially ignoring it, Donnie climbed the fire escape and handed Mikey back his nunchucks.

“Be more careful,” Donnie said, giving it back to his brother.

“Thanks, man,” Mikey said when he took it.

“You’re just luck no one was down there, or you’d have to go home and explain how you lost another one,” Donnie said as they continued on.

Mikey shrugged.

“I’d just say that it got stuck in some dude’s noggin when I smacked him and I had to leave it behind.”

“That’s the excuse you used last time,” Donnie said as he vaulted to another rooftop.

They continued on in quiet – well, Donnie was quiet, but Mikey blabbed on like they were completely alone in the city.

Donnie couldn’t get the image of the ratty poster out of his mind’s eye. It wasn’t until after they met back up with the others and made it back to the lair that it hit him.

They walked in to see April still up, working on her laptop. She sat on the couch with her dainty little feet tucked up under her, an image that made Donnie inadvertently smile.

“Hey, guys,” she said with a happy but sleepy grin. She looked so fetching like that.

“What are you still doing up?” Leo asked as they headed to the weapons wall to hang up their stuff.

“I always wait up for you guys to come home when you go topside,” April said as she shut her laptop and stretched her arms over her head, giving a giant yawn.

“Aw... that’s sweet, Ma,” Raph said as he walked past where she sat, ruffling her hair on the way. April slapped his hand but smiled all the same.

“He wouldn’t admit it, but Master Splinter does too,” April said as she got up and stretched again. “Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if he fell asleep by now. You guys know it’s almost 2 a.m., right?”

“Ninja’s ain’t never late, Froda,” Mikey said, getting a soda from the fridge. “They get there when they get there.”

Donnie rolled his eyes.

“That was such a grossly inferior attempt at a quotation, Mikey,” Donnie said.

Mikey tipped his head in amusement.

“You would know, ya big nerd.”

“Hey,” April said, coming to his rescue. “Lord of the Rings is not nerdy. It’s a classic.”

“Precisely. Thank you, milady,” Donnie said with a gracious smile.

He was rewarded with a tired giggle from April.

“Whenever you require assistance, my good gentleman, thou only needith call my name,” April said with a little curtsy.

Donnie responded by taking her hand in a gesture of courtliness.

Mikey and Raph looked at each other.

“Nerds,” the chorused.

Leo just chuckled at their antics.

“Alright guys, time for bed. Sensei will want us up early for morning routine,” the team leader said.

“I’m just going to check on a few things in the lab first,” Donnie said as he headed in that direction.

His brother’s just rolled their eyes or shook their heads, knowing that he would probably pull another all-nighter.

“Don’t stay up too late, 'good gentleman',” Mikey said in a mocking tone.

Donnie ignored him, but April gave Mikey a playful shove.

“Your just jealous,” she teased the young turtle. “You just wish you could keep up with Donatello’s chivalry.”

Donnie blushed and pretended not to hear.

“Nuh-uh,” Mikey said as he shoved April gently. Or his version of gentle. “I can be plenty full of chivalriness when I wanna.”

With that, he bowed at the waist and offered her his hand. Donnie paused to watch as she took his hand. With a surprised laugh, April was twirled around and spun in all directions.

Donnie watched at April kept her feet even among Mikey’s clumsy looking steps, all of the turtle’s ninja skills going out the window. It made April look even more graceful and lithe.

“Alright Fred and Ginger,” Leo said shooing them off to bed (Donnie was impressed that Leo knew that reference, the blue clad turtle wasn’t a huge fan of most aspects of human culture). “Splinter will have our tails if he finds out were stayed up all night. Don, make sure you turn in soon,” Leo ordered.

“Yes, Sensei,” Donnie said under his breath as he closed the lab door behind him. He didn’t waste too much energy on a comeback, because his mind was on something else.

Thinking about April twirling about in the living room with Mikey… It gave him an idea.

Booting up his computer, Donnie started tapping away at the keys, looking for details about a specific event that was coming up.

The light of the computer reflected in Donnie’s glasses as he scrolled though information on a website. When he got to one fact in particular, his eyes lit up with a light of their own. A plan started to formulate in his head, and his mouth started to smile on its own accord.

If he could pull this off, it could be his big chance at impressing April.

All he needed to do was find the right videos and find some time to practice…

 

The first part ended up being the easiest piece of his master plan. The second wasn’t extremely problematic, but not getting caught certainly felt like the most difficult thing he had ever attempted. 

One moment he would be completely alone, watching his videos and following their instructions, and the next he would be scrambling to cover the screen when one of his brothers would come barging into his room or the lab without knocking as they always did. It was bound to give him a conniption one of these days.

He only had a limited amount of time though, and he had to practice when he could. Between training, patrols, and repairing necessary items around the lair as his brothers continuously and habitually broke them, it left him hard pressed to find time to do so.

On one occasion, Donnie had been attempting a frustratingly difficult piece when Mikey had walked into the lab, already talking.

“Hey Donnie, where is the-”

He was interrupted by the crash of Donatello falling to the floor, an instinctual movement to conceal his posture and movements.

“Um, you ok, dude?” Mikey asked as Donnie picked himself up and slyly clicked his computer off.

“I-ah, yeah. I just, ahem, just tripped on the-a… thing. On the floor there.”

Mikey glanced at the floor of the lab, which Donnie was obsessed with keeping spotless and clutter free.

“Riiiiight… Well, I was wondering where the toaster was?” Mikey asked, going back to his original inquiry.

Donatello straightened himself up.

“Oh, yes. The toaster. I haven’t gotten to fixing that yet.” Donnie said hurriedly.

Mikey frowned at him.

“It’s been like a week, dude,” he complained.

Donnie scowled, trying to cover up his uneasiness at almost being discovered. He shuffled some papers to make himself look occupied with other things.

“Yes, well, I’ve been busy. I’ll have it ready as soon as I can. I promise.”

He didn’t keep that promise. In fact he started to fall through on a lot of promises.

Master Splinter told him he needed to work on his rolls, which he promised to do.

He didn’t because he was practicing.

Leo told him he needed to start getting more sleep because it was affecting his performance in the training room and his patrolling. Donatello swore every night that he would.

He kept pulling all-nighters whenever he could.

Raphael told him he needed help working on the Shell Raiser because it was acting up again. Donnie kept telling him that he would help him the next day.

That happened for weeks in a row.

Mikey asked him to fix any number of things around the lair, which Donnie vowed he would get to just as soon as he was done with this one thing.

The stack of broken junk on his desk kept growing, and growing.

The only promises he didn’t break were to April.

When she needed help with her online classes, Donatello would always make it to the appointed time to aid her. When she wanted to spar so she could work on her lunges and kicks, Donnie would drop everything and accompany her to the dojo.

It was kind of pathetic really.

And the family was starting to notice.

 

Eventually, the brothers had had enough.

Always being the hotheaded one, Raph was the first to decide that Donnie needed his butt kicked into motion.

One day after training, Raph went to find Donatello in the lab where he spent every moment of his free time now.

The red clad turtle cracked his knuckles before opening the door.

What he found, he was not prepared for.

Donnie had his back to him, and was in the weirdest damn position that Raph had ever seen.

He held his hands in a very precise manor. His back was straight as a log, like someone had jammed a metal pole up his butt.

And then he started to… dance?

Raphael had to blink.

He could not believe what he was seeing.

He stood there in the doorway staring as his brother waltzed around the lab like an uptight, pantywaist human. There was the very quiet hum of music coming from his computer speakers.

Raph had always known that Donatello was a drip, but this was a whole new level.

He couldn’t close his gaping mouth as Donnie finally spun around and caught sight of his brother standing in the threshold, watching him.

Donnie froze in mid turn, the color draining from his face and his eyes dilating in pure unadulterated horror.

The music came to big finally and left the two brothers in silence.

“Dude,” was all Raph managed to say before Donatello exploded into a manic ball of green fury.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I’m glad you guys seem to be liking the story so far! I promise to keep updating as often as I can. Let’s get on with chapter three, shall we?

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!” Donatello nearly screeched. His arms that had been so poised just seconds ago were now flailing the air viciously. 

Raph had never been particularly threatened by his skinny and tech obsessed brother, seeing that he could beat Donnie sideways from Tuesday every time they sparred (not that he discounted his brother’s skills, there had been a few times when Donnie had saved his tail in a fight). But at this moment, watching Donnie’s eyes light with embarrassment and rage, Raph was momentarily afraid for his life.

“HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU GUYS TO KNOCK BEFORE IT WILL GO THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS?!” Donnie shouted as he came at Raph.

Raphael put his hands up in defense and took a step back out of the lab, but he couldn’t stop the sudden and uncontrollable laughter that started as his shock faded into amusement.

“Donnie boy,” Raph said between snorts, “Were you just-?”

“Shutupandgetinhere!” Donnie said as he pulled him back into the lab, taking a peak outside to make sure that no one was around. Then he shut the door with force. 

It wasn’t the first time that Donatello wished that the door had a lock, but after the third incident with some rather dangerous chemical experiments, Donnie had agreed with Master Splinter that, for safety reasons, a lock was probably not the best idea.

Donnie turned around to find Raph bent over, holding his sides as laughter wracked his body. He made no attempt to conceal it as Donnie glared at him with intense anger. 

Donnie was so mad he could just… spit! Well, maybe not spit. That was a rather unsanitary action that Donnie had never quiet understood the reason for.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Donnie asked, not keeping the biter malice out of his voice.

Raph couldn’t breathe properly, let alone speak. So he just nodded his head instead.

Donnie growled and gave his brother a shove as he stormed past him towards his computer.

It took a few more moments before Raph had recovered sufficiently enough to carry on an intelligent conversation.

Maybe not ‘intelligent’ precisely… Donnie thought as he glared at the stupid grin on Raph’s face.

“Are you quiet finished?” Donnie barked.

“Haha… A-ahem… N-not until you tell me what exactly in the shell it was that I just saw,” Raph said, still chuckling.

Donnie’s cheeks flamed again as he tried to give a calm explanation. He knew that there would be no getting away with a lame lie this time.

“It was the Venetian Waltz, thank you very much.”

Raph looked like it was physically paining him to contain his laughter.

“And a- ha-em… And what is that exactly?”

Donnie’s glared evolved into an eye roll at the absurdity of the question.

“It’s a dance that was developed in the eighteenth century, made prevalent again by the up rise of the interest due to popular films show casing it and related dances,” Donatello said like it was obvious.

“Uhuh… And why were you doing it exactly?” Raph said. He kept his hand over his mouth as he spoke, but Donnie could see the mirth in his eyes.

Donnie just sighed.

Instead of answering him, Donnie clicked open a picture file on his computer. Turning the monitor around so that Raph could see, he gestured to the picture of the same advertisement that he had spotted all those weeks ago.

Raph came closer, peering at the picture with mild curiosity.

“Would you like me to read it for you?” Donnie snapped when Raph took too long for his patients. Usually, he wouldn’t be this testy. But being caught dancing was perhaps the most humiliating thing that had ever happened to him, and he was involuntarily burying his mortification with irritation and anger.

“I can read, ya dipwad!” Raph barked at the insult. After a moment, he looked away from the screen and back at Donnie. Most of the humor was gone from his expression having been replaced by incomprehension. “I don’t get it.”

Donnie shifted uncomfortably.

“I’m going to the competition.”

Raph’s eyebrows shot up.

“… With April… hopefully.”

Raph just stood there.

His stare was starting to make Donnie truly uncomfortable when his brother finally spoke.

“You. You’re going to what? Wait, wait, I’m gonna pretend like that don’t fall in the ‘what the hell’ category for a moment, and just ask, how the hell do you even know that April dances?”

“Because I saw her dancing.” It slipped out before Donnie could catch it from flying out his mouth.

Raph furrowed his brow.

“When? Where?”

“A few weeks ago… In the back room…”

Raph’s eyebrows were working overtime as they shot back up again.

“…And I’ve been watch- ahem, observing how she moves. If you look very closely, you can tell that she has the training-”

“I can’t decide if you saying “I’ve been watching her” and you sounding like a total creeper is worse than you saying “observing her” and sounding like a mad scientist,” Raph said. From what Donnie could tell, he was being totally serious.

“Would you listen, please?!” Donnie said. “I want to learn how to dance so I can take her to this party – completion – thing.”

It took a moment longer than it would have taken most, but realization finally spread over Raph’s face.

“That’s why you’ve been spending so much time in here… and why you’ve been skipping out on us recently!” Raph said in a sudden accusatory tone.

Donnie’s head fell a little, feeling more than a bit guilty about that, but he nodded none the less.

Raph looked hard at his brother. It would be an understatement to say that he was pissed that Donnie had been avoiding them and his responsibilities for a chick. Even if it was April. That was so against the bro code, as Mikey would say.

And April was practically their sister, which was like a double break in the rules. It grossed Raph out to even think about it. 

“Leo’s gonna kill you, man,” Raph said, with a playfully cruel smile when he realize how much trouble Donnie would be in. It almost made up for the fact that he’d been ditching them.

Donnie’s eyes shot up with renewed horror.

“You can’t say anything!” Donnie said, nearly running over to him. He grabbed Raph by the shoulders and held on like he could keep him in place indefinitely. “Raph, I swear if you tell a soul about this… Ok, we both know I can’t make threats worth a dime, but please Raph. I’ve never asked you for anything before. You can’t breathe a word of this to anyone… Please.”

And everyone said it was Mikey that was the master of puppy dog eyes in this lair. Donnie’s intense hazel gaze made Raph’s shoulders fall when he realized that he would have to do as he asked.

“Hhhhh… Fine. But you have to answer me one thing.”

Donnie shook his head fervently.

“Anything.”

“What I don’t get, bro, is why? Why dancing, why this particular party-” 

But then it clicked.

October 31st. Halloween.

Raph glanced back at the online poster.

It was a costume party.

Ohhh…

The brother’s often were allowed to walk on the surface on Halloween without having to conceal themselves. But they never really went and did any ‘social’ things with human, even that one night a year.

Donnie looked down at his feet and cleared his throat.

“I thought it was something we could do together, you know? She… she was robbed of an ordinary teenaged life… She’s been training so hard, and it’s like her chance for a normal life was torn from her. I just thought it would be a nice opportunity for her… And I wanted to surprise her… Show her that I care about her interests.”  
And it would be a chance for me to get closer to her. The words hung heavily and unsaid between them.  
It was subtle, but Donnie almost thought he saw Raph’s expression soften in the very minutest way.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a minute before Raphael coughed.

“So, uh… How you doing with the whole ‘learning how’ thing?” Raph asked. He wasn’t really interested, he just wanted to get off the subject of April.

Donnie’s expression dropped a little more at the question, and Raph was suddenly sorry that he asked.

“Truthfully? Not very well,” Donnie said, running his hand over the back of his neck. “It’s a lot harder than I first suspected it would be.”

He plopped down in his desk chair, absent mindedly clicking open some videos that he been studying.

Raph came a little closer, perching on the edge of Donnie’s work table on one of the few open spaces. Looking down, Raph finally noticed the mass amount of papers that lay in neat, organized piles on the desk. There were floor patterns in color coded sequences, charts, graphs, diagrams of body positioning and limb angles, calculations, lists of terms, and a bunch of other stuff that Raph couldn’t recognized.

He scoffed.

Trust Donnie to be the only being on Earth to turn a leisure activity like dancing into an exact science. Raph wondered it that was even possible.

Distractedly, Donnie brought up a video and clicked play. A sultry Latin song came on as the dancing instructions played silently in captions.

“I get the timing and most of the steps for most of the dances I’ve been studying… But something just doesn’t feel right… It’s hard to learn when I’m doing it by myself…”

Raph watched the black tuxedo guy and the ugly young woman in the red dress cha-cha their way across the screen and back, silently demonstrating different steps and techniques as they went.

“Maybe you need a real live teacher,” Raph mused.

Donnie nodded sadly. 

“Unfortunately that’s not likely to happen. Unless I ask April, which would kind of defeat the point. But I think my success does hang on the fact that I need a teacher… ”

They both watched the video with absentmindedly.

“Or a partner,” Raph said almost as an afterthought.

He was watching the overly cheery couple so intently that he didn’t even notice that Donnie was looking at him.

He caught sight of the purple masked turtle out of the corner of his eye.

Looking at Donnie, he saw that he had on that wide eyed, slow spreading dopey grin that he got when all the pieces in that brainy mind fell into place.

“What you gaping at?” Raph said with a frown.

“You’re right Raph,” Donnie said slowly.

That gave Raphael a pause.

“Excuse me?” Raph shook his head rapidly and blinked his eyes. “I’m sorry. I just hallucinated, could you repeat that please?”

The grin on Donnie’s face was starting to take an evil turn. It was making Raph extremely wary.

“I said you’re right Raph.”

“Did you really just admit that-” Raph honestly couldn’t believe that Donnie had said that HE was right about something. His surprise was so great that it washed the memory of what he had even said that Donnie admitted that he was right about.

“You’re right Raph,” Donnie said, getting up from his chair slowly. “I could use a partner.”

Raph watched as Donnie took a step into his personal space, looking him up and down.

Raph didn’t know why he started to sweat.

“Yeah, so?” Raph said in a tone that started to betray how uncomfortable he was becoming.

The grin on Donatello’s face looked like it could split his genius face if it spread any further. Behind them, the song on the video began to increase in tempo.

“No,” Raph whispered, horrible realization lighting his mind.

“Yes,” Donnie said.

“No, no, no, no, no! That will never happen! I can’t believe you’re even asking-” Raph said as he hurriedly backed up from the psychotic turtle. Raph’s usual intimidating demeanor crumbling as he became more uncomfortable.

“I’m not asking, I’m telling you that you will do this,” Donnie said with a sadistic tone that Raph had only seen on the very rarest of occasions. It usually came out when Donnie knew how to kill you and make it look like an accident. Or just came up with an epic way of getting back at Mikey for one of his countless pranks. 

The music was growing louder.

“Because if you don’t-” Donnie was suddenly behind him and blocking the door. Raph gritted it teeth, ready to violently toss his brother aside if need be. “-I’ll show everyone that video that Casey sent to me the last time that you guys got so drunk that you started a singing contest on the roof tops of downtown Manhattan.”  
The color vanished from Raphael’s face vanished as if it had never existed.

“You- you couldn’t possibly know about that,” Raph said, narrowing his eyes at Donatello. “You’re bluffing.”

“I seem to recall that you had some difficulty hitting the high notes of a certain Britney song…” Donnie said with a shit eating grin. The music hit its highest note, and Raph cringed.

Casey was beyond dead, He would be obliterated. Wiped from the face from the face of the earth. Pulverized. Sliced and diced. Squish like a bug.

But in the meantime, Raph turned his attention back to Donatello. 

“You wouldn’t dare. You know that I’d break all six of your fingers and both of your legs… You wouldn’t dare.” Raph didn’t have anything left in his defense arsenal besides good old fashion threats of violence.

Dropping in volume but speeding up in pace, the music still sang out behind them.

“Ah, but my vengeance for your refusal of aid would still be served hot and as darkly as Pompeii’s demise,” the enjoyment that Donnie was getting out of knowing that he had already won was bordering on mastermind hysteria.

Raph stared back at him, hoping that his superior physical presence would be enough to intimidate Donnie. It wasn’t.

“You-he… that… It…”

Donnie just stood there smiling like a fricking lunatic.

Raph glared harder.

“I already promised not to say anything about you doing your gay little dance, why are you making this an issue?” Raph demanded.

“Because this is also payback for years of torment and mockery of countless other things, dear sweet Raphael.”

There was a crash of cymbals and the music started to fade out.

God damn lunatic.

Raph’s eyes were bound to collide if he glared any harder.

“I hate you, you crackpot, sewage sucking…” Raph didn’t have the words to finish describing his fury, so he just growled.

Donnie just stuck his tongue out the tiniest bit between the gap in his teeth.

“Love you too, partner.”

The music on the instructional video cut as the clip drew to a close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no you didn’t, Donnie! Hehehe, there’s nothing like good old fashion black mail to inspire brotherly love and compassion, eh? I don’t have this prewritten, which is huge for me. I’m usually such a control freak that I have to have every last detail of the plot perfected before I will post something, which is why I have so few things actually posted. So, this is a training exercise for me to relax and trust the characters to carry the story like they are supposed to. :D Also, I made up the Venetian Waltz. I have no idea if it even exists, and honestly, I do not care enough to go look it up.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Bonus round, two chapters in one night, whew! Ok, so now might be the time to admit that I’m relatively new to the TMNT fandom, but I’ve done a bit of research, so I feel pretty comfortable with it. I also would like to admit that I hardly know anything about dancing. I’ve seen the classics, Dirty Dancing, Flash Dance, Shall We Dance, etc., but I myself don’t know how to dance. :/ So, I will try to keep the technical terms down so as to not annoy those of you who do know how. Alright, enough talking. Let’s get to it!
> 
> I do not own Britney Spears’ “Hit Me Baby One More Time.”

Raph had been hoping beyond reason that Donnie would just forget about the whole thing. He wished that something would happen that would make it impossible for Raph to be subjected to this cruel and unusual torture. He began hoping that the Foot or the Purple Dragon, shell, even the Kraang would keep them busier than normal so Raph could just have some escape from the humiliation of being Donnie’s dance partner, even if no one knew about it.

But unfortunately for Raph, none of those things happened. 

After training the next day, Raph tried to quickly sneak away into the sewer before Donatello could catch him. But the techie was quicker.

“Hey, Raph!”

Raphael cringed as he heard Donnie call his name just as he was about to slip out of the lair. He stood there with his fists clenched at his sides, gritting his teeth. He knew from the heat in his cheeks that he was probably bright red already.

“Can you give me a hand with something?” Donnie asked from behind him.

Raph couldn’t turn. He just couldn’t do it. 

He decided to just keep walking like he hadn’t even heard Donnie.

But suddenly there the horrible sound of someone whistling an all too familiar tune.

Raph stopped in his tracks again and screwed his eyes shut as he listened to Donnie start to sing softly.

“My loneliness is killin' me, and I…”

Anyone else listening wouldn’t have thought anything of it. But for Raph, it worked like an invisible rope to turn him around and draw him, ever so slowly, stomping towards Donnie’s lab.

He didn’t even look up at his brother’s face as he silently stormed past him. If he had, he would have seen the most triumphant expression plastered on Donatello’s mug.

Entering the lab, Raph found that a few of the tables had been moved around so that there was a larger space in the center. The shift was subtle, but it made Raphael’s stomach drop and his temper flare even further.

Hearing the click of door, Raph spun around to look at Donnie.

“Well?” Raph asked him, like he didn’t know what he had called him in here for.

Donnie just walked past him towards the computer screen, already talking.

“Since I’m already a little ahead of you in training, I think it would be to our greatest advantage if you learned some of the basic steps before we progress further. I’ve saved some of the most helpful videos I was able to find on the web. We’ll see how far you get today and then go from there,” Donnie said as he bent over his computer, clicking open a few different pages.

Raph was starting to fidget, getting irritated that it looked like he really wasn’t going to be able to get out of this.

“Donnie,” Raph said, clearing his voice as the purple banded turtle kept his eyes on the screen. “I’ve been thinking-”

Donatello peaked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“Are you feeling well, Raph?”

Raphael glared at him. 

“Ha-ha, very funny. I was just thinking… that maybe it would be better if you got Mikey or even Leo to do this with you.”

Donnie turned back to the screen.

“Not that letting everyone know about this isn’t just a fantastically appealing idea, but that wouldn’t work anyway. Mikey wouldn’t be able to A, take it seriously, and B, be able to keep his mouth shut. Leo wouldn’t do it and at the moment I have nothing in my possession that I would be able to blackmail him with, though I’m working on that… So!” Donnie said as he finally found the video he was searching for and turned around to face Raph. “That leaves you, whom I already have under my control.”

“I ain’t under nobody’s control!” Raph said, pointing an angry green finger at Donnie.

Donnie just rolled his eyes.

“Sure, fine. Alright, let’s see here…” Donnie looked Raph up and down swiftly, frowning and moving towards him.

Raph suddenly put his hands up and took a step back.

“No, I changed my mind,” Raph said. This COULD NOT happen…

Donnie almost looked like he was about to object, but then a look of indifference settled over his features. 

“Fine with me.”

Raph stopped backing up. Had it really just been that easy?

“…Really?” Raph asked suspiciously.

Donnie shrugged nonchalantly.

“Yeah Raph. If you really feel that strongly about it, I can’t stop you from leaving.”

Raph saw a spark of hope in the dark.

He almost broke down and thanked Donnie for his generosity, but instead he stood up straighter and cleared his throat.

“Ok,” Raph said, not knowing what else to say. He turned to leave.

He couldn’t believe how narrowly he had avoided that catastrophe. He could shout with happiness!

But just as he grabbed the door handle, ready to bolt from the lab and do a cartwheel with glee, Donatello called out from behind him.

“I just want you to know Raph,” Donnie said sweetly. “I might not be able to stop you from leaving… But I can have that video on fifty different websites and sent to every single person in my contacts within half an hour. That should average out to about three thousand views by lunch.

And showing your face and exposing our secrete existence wouldn’t be a problem because I already faded the image so that it’s unrecognizable to anyone who hasn’t already seen one of us… But your voice should be entertaining enough for every viewer to forward it to a few friends. That will make it about nine thousand views by dinner time. By tomorrow-”

“ALRIGHT I GET IT, I GET IT!” Raph shouted as he turned back into the room, more than a little down hearted.

He could just beat that arrogant look off his brother’s face. Raph was positively fuming. His breath was already coming heavily with fury.

“I’ll… I’ll…” Raph growled. The last word came out as a snarl under his breath. “Stay.”

“Excellent!” Donnie said clapping his hands together and ushering Raphael back to the center of the floor.

“BUT,” Raph growled. “If ANYONE hears about this, I will pound ya into the concrete so far that they’ll need a crane to pick out your body. Got it?”

Donnie rolled his eyes, but he smiled none the less.

“Understood. Infliction of bodily harm and all that. You do know that I want this to be kept just as quiet as you do, right?” 

Raph didn’t answer, but instead just glowered at the floor. He couldn’t believe that he was doing this.

“Alright,” Donnie said as he moved back to the computer. He looked weirdly excited. “So, just watch what the instructors do and try to mimic their movements.”

Raph grumbled something incoherent.

“Here we go,” Donnie said as he clicked play, looking back at Raph.

Raph just started at the floor. He really felt like hitting something.

Donnie huffed in annoyance.

“Raphael! This will be over much more quickly if you just try and participate and learn.”

More grumbles.

Donnie backed the video up and waited until the larger turtle looked at the computer. He clicked play when Raph finally dragged his gaze upward.

Raph listened to the heavy accented voice start to explain the names of the starting positions. Donnie just leaned up against the table, inspecting him with an observant expression. Raph spotted a clipboard in his brother’s hands.

Ok, that was so not going to happen! There was no way he was going to be “evaluated” like this.

“You just gonna stand there watch’n?” Raph barked. This was beyond uncomfortable.

Donnie made a sound of vexation.

“Just copy the video!”

Raph fidgeted and looked back at the screen, trying to glare holes in it.

He looked down at his own feet.

“By myself?” Raph asked before he could think better of it.

“You want me to do it with you?”

“NO!”

Donnie sighed in exasperation and put down his pen and paper.

Coming over to where Raph stood awkwardly, he made a face.

“This part is easy,” the genius turtle said. “Watch.”

Raph watched as Donnie stood up a little straighter, and started to step forward, across and together, then back again.

“See? Easy. We’ll work on heel placement and posture later.”

He looked back his brother, who only blinked.

Donnie held back another sigh and stood next to Raph.

“Here. This time do it with me.”

Raph’s eyebrow knitted together and his jaw was clenched, but he reluctantly followed Donatello’s movements. 

His movements were unsure, but Donnie could see that it wouldn’t take that long to get Raph used to dancing if he just tried hard.

They made a full revolution and came back to a standstill, Raph looking up from Donnie’s feet.

“Good! See how simple that is?” Donnie asked.

Raph refused to say anything, so Donnie just decided to let him stay quiet.

“Again,” Donnie said.

They had almost made another revolution when Raph threw his hands up in the air.

“Forget it! I don’t care! Post the fricking video! I’m lea-” He said as he started for the door.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Donnie cut him off and grabbed him by edge of his shell, towing him back to his original spot.

Raph shook him off but stayed put, which Donnie took as a good sign.

“Again.”

 

They carried on like this for a few days. Donnie would show Raph a video, adding in his own learnings whenever it looked like Raph needed encouragement. They covered the basic steps for a few dances and the corresponding posture. Donnie tried to tell him about breathing and how not looking like you wanted to kill somebody while you dance, but he soon gave up on that when Raph would simply refuse to move afterward.

It was hard to coax him into it, but it seemed like this private humiliation was worth sparing himself from the promise of very very public mortification.

Donnie could see that, no matter how much he might hate it, Raph was coming along. He wasn’t fluid and it didn’t look exactly natural, but Raph definitely was absorbing the information and he was paying attention to what Donatello was teaching him. And it helped Donnie to relearn the information by teaching someone else.

Donnie had to have his wits about him to be able to snag Raph before he would sneak away though. If anything, this whole thing was proving just how stealthy the bulky ninja really could be when he wanted. There had been a whole day where he knew that Raph was still in the lair because the sensors he had set up were telling him that no one had come or gone, but he still couldn’t find Raph anywhere. Donnie had started to wonder if he’d somehow snuck past the sensors when the clock struck dinner time, and Raph magically reappeared.

“Where were you all day?” Leo asked, having obviously noticed their brother’s absence as well.

Raph had just shrugged slyly and snagged a piece of pizza.

“Around. Working on my shadow skills.”

Donnie had just scoffed and given him a pointed look.

He made a mental note to set his scanners to check for unknown escape routes in the lair.

 

In a few days’ time, Donnie believed that Raph was ready enough to start really helping him advance his own skills.

“Ok, let’s try something new,” Donnie said after he had caught Raph making a bee line for his room after lunch one day. He nearly had to haul the red masked turtle into the lab.

Raph just stood there and grumbled something Donnie couldn’t hear. Donnie had learned to ignore such things. He noticed though that Raph looked up in suspicion when he didn’t turn his computer on.

“No video today?” Raph asked. 

Donnie smiled, trying to make sure that Raph wouldn’t bolt and run again.

“Nope. You’re going to dance with me today. You’re going to be my partner.”

Raph’s eyes widened and his muscle tensed like he was going to sprint away. That was another thing Donnie had learned. Raphael was fast when he wanted to be. Mainly when Donnie said that they were done for the day and Raph left the lab in a cloud of dust, like he’d vanished into thin air.

Before Raph could make a break for it, Donnie grabbed his shoulder and held him in place.

“Alright, so you remember how it goes?” Donnie asked quickly. “I’ll take the part of the gentlemen for this session, and you can be… Ahem, I’ll lead,” Donnie finished as he saw the flames shoot from Raph’s eyes over what he had almost just said.

“Place you’re right hand here on my shoulder… Bend your elbow.”

“That would be a lot easier if you weren’t such a fricking giant,” Raph griped as he reached up to his taller brother.

Donnie suppressed a smile. At least he was comfortable enough to complain and make jokes again.

“And take my right hand in your left… And I put my left hand under your-”

“You better keep that hand up topside or I will bust my foot off in your ass, buddy-”

“Shoulder,” Donnie finished, doing just that. 

He felt his cheeks redden as Raph refused to look him in the eye. Donnie had been so focused on getting Raph to cooperate that he hadn’t considered that this would be uncomfortable for him as well.

They stood there like that for an awkward moment.

“You’re leading, genius,” Raph barked finally.

“Oh, yes. Right,” Donatello said, clearing his throat.

 

It turned out that dancing with Raph was going to be more difficult than Donnie had originally anticipated. Not only was Donnie taller, but Raph made sure to keep the maximum amount of space between them at all times, which made their movements sloppy and awkward. There was a lot of feet stepped on, sudden changes in directions, and near shouting matches when it came to making sure that just one of them was leading.

It was exhausting.

But the end of the afternoon, they were both ready to tear each other’s heads off. Raph finally said that he quit for the day and stormed off, leaving Donnie feeling cross and frustrated in the lab.

 

Later on patrol, the two were still a little irritated at each other. They tried to ignore it, but they weren’t overly successful at it.

“Ok, guys,” Leo whispered as they came up out of the man hole. “Let’s keep together tonight. There’s been more clan activity down on 6th avenue the last few nights, so let’s hit it together.”

Raph and Donnie both grumbled, having both been hoping to split up and get away from each other.

They had made it to 6th without incident, when suddenly Raph bumped into Donnie when he stopped short in front of him.

“Watch it!” Raph hissed.

“Me? Why don’t you watch where you’re going?” Donnie hissed back.

“I could if you weren’t always blocking my way.”

“Well, then maybe you need to look up from your feet.”

“Maybe you need to shut your yap and not be so demanding.”

“Maybe you should learn how to listen!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t always have to be in the lead!”

“You always try to take the lead!”

“Only because you’re trying to be so controlling, ya gangly nerd!”

“I’m only controlling because you don’t know what the shell you’re doing, you block headed ignoramus!”

“GUYS!” Leo whisper-shouted above their bickering. “Shut up and fall in!”

They scowled at each other but kept quiet for the rest of the patrol, with Leo and Mikey giving each other confused glances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tension? Awkwardness? Embarrassment? Go figure… Well, let’s see if the boys can work things out… Also! A big thank you for such lovely comments and liking this story!


End file.
